Fc-150 Resurrection

creepy little fella
my FC as ducked too. i told the girl doing it she can sit in it if she wanted. she jumped in and pretended to drive, her friends took pics.

 

I dont have much going on this week so decided to pull the transmission. Well first I pulled one of the boards in the bed and cut a hole in what was left of the old metal so I can pull the top cover and see what was going on. We drove it a bit because i wanted to see the gear coming out. It was too oily to see much but 1st gear is definatly worse than I remember. The teeth are quite tapered so I guess thatll do it. Anyway I got the whole mess out in a half hour or so and torn down. I also decided to replace the mainshafts because of the choudered center bearing. It wasnt any worse than when i put it together but it just didnt seem like it was going to last long as bumpy as those bores are. And i got the new seals for side shafts all from Novak. Tomorrow Im going to check the play on the rear t-case bearing. Tightening the one on my cj5 stopped the leak completely. This one isnt really leaking yet but its a new seal so I just want to check it before it trashes the seal if its sloppy. And its easier now thats its out.

 

My parts should be here tomorrow. You can see how tapered firt gear is. Also the tailshaft bearing on the t case was definately sloppy and leaking so i took a bunch of shims out and got it tightened up. The book says to have like 30 thou end play but I just tap the bearing in as much as itll go take the shims out put the housing on and measure the gap then put that many shims in or as close as possible.

 

Got my parts yesterday and got everything back together and its working good now. But another problem sprang up when I got home it was leaking oil again at the oil filter fitting. I think my brother probably tightened it too much and it broke the 90. Should be an easy fix. Also I think my lock-o-matic hubs are actually working which is a bit of a surprise.

 

The dmv sent me my registration back so thats all settled. I was going up a big hill and ran out of gas. Got it turned around and on the flat again it started and I made it to the gas station. Yesterday I filled the back with firewood and it was so bottomed out the springs were almost hitting the bed. It looked bad. It was nowhere near the bumpstops though. So today I made extension blocks for them. 1.5" square tubing. Im not sure if it will be enough but we'll see. Its got like 3" or more before it hits them. I know some jeeps had extension blocks from the factory and the wagons had huge ones. But ill go with my homemade blocks for now. I also checked the shocks to make sure they wernt bottoming out and they dont.

 

I hauled another load and the bump stops are not enough so I think I will add another 1.5" block. It doesnt seem to hurt anything but like I said previously the springs are in bad shape I need to rebuild the packs but Id like to reuse the main leaf so I dont want it bent or broken in the meantime.
So today I made a fan to extract the hot air from the engine bay. It doesnt have any air flow otherwise and just builds up alot of heat in there. I dont see any disadvantage to this. Its a proper radiator fan from an unknown vehicle. Ideally it would be a pusher fan mounted to the grate but I only had this one. I tried running it in reverse and it didnt have any flow. I couldnt get the nut off to turn the fan around. So I went with this and it worked out good. Its very close to the intake but it shouldnt hit. Im going to put a switch in the back corner to minimize the wiring. It seems to flow alot of air

 

Good idea with the fan.

 

The fan works good. Moves alot of hot air out the back. The bumpstops are working too Iv been taking loads about 4 miles from home. All down hill luckily. It has enough trouble going up empty. The other day I took a trailer loaded too. On the way home we had the truck and trailer full of scrap metal from a cleanout. I used low range to get up the hill it did it in 2nd and 3rd. My hill is really steep I think more than 20% grade for like 500ft before it gets a little more level. Its hard to walk up.

 

Made it look great to treat it like jeep. Love every part of this thread

 

Have you thought about rear helper bags?
Rear suspension helper bags and bump stops run from $150 on up, are invisible, will keep the vehicle level, and help carry the load.
Some ideas
https://www.etrailer.com/dept-pg-Vehicle_Suspension-sf-Rear_Axle_Suspension_Enhancement.aspx

 

Some of those could work for sure. I only have to go a few miles with a load so im not too worried about it. My bosses pickup has pretty big bumpstops that act like springs like that. They are just rubber foam like normal bumpstops but bigger. I noticed the ones on my 2a are pointed rather than rectangle blocks. I guess that was their way of making them a little compliant. I think when i rebuild the springs it should sit a little higher and be stonger so it might not even sag enough to hit the current bump stops

 

I had a weird problem today. The front right brake was stuck on when i got home. It was the wheel cyl corroded inside!? The only thing i can figure is maybe the brake fluid i used was too old and maybe the bottle was open for too long. Well i cleaned it up and put brake grease on the pistons. I hope that helps more than it hurts.

 

Today was intresting. The place I got it from was having another yard sale so I took the fc and parked it right where I found it lol. The guy wasnt super excited about it or anything but he thought it was cool and sent pics to the family who might care a little more. They tore down the newer house that was there you can see its just the foundation now. I got the angle wrong on that pic. But there is an old house and barn that the guy is working on fixing up. We didnt find anything good at the sale the prices were too high but it was a great day for a ride. Only 10 miles from home anyway.

 

I love that you parked it where you found it!

 

We went to a car show sunday and a guy waved me down and wanted to give me a free windshield! He received the wrong one when he ordered one for an ambassador. I dont know when he got it but i imagine it was atleast a few years before he found someone with an Fc. It was out back of his field in a decrepid crate. He had a ton of cars but didnt really show me around. Thats ok Im happy with what I got Probably wont put it in until mine breaks or something. Mine is good just super foggy around the bottom which doesnt bother me.

 

I am sending you some money. So you can buy ME and YOU a lottery ticket quickly before your luck changes!

 

Wow, can't believe you stumbled on that, for free to boot!

 

That is so awesome

 

You did a fantastic job bringing that guy back to life. Bravo!

 

Thank you! Im really happy with it and its usefullness. And everyone that sees it loves it too.
I ordered a new speedometer cable this one is 140" The one I have on it is 120 i think. It barely reaches and I broke the nut getting it through the floorboard so its just taped on the speedo and doesnt stay straight so sometimes i have to play with it while driving to get it to work. So the new one hopefully i can route it through a more convenient hole that fits better since i wont have to go the shortest possible route. Heres some pics from the car show. I put my dirtbike in the back. The nice man with the windshield drove the white amx. Good show it was cruise-in with free entry no trophies just some door prizes and a big chicken barbecue. I didnt take any pics but found these online. Some other guy there said he was working on one at the moment. Sounded like it is almost as rusty as mine was.